Week in the Life 2018 | Monday (Words + Photos)

Week in the Life started yesterday and I couldn't be more excited. I had planned out a bunch of things I could take pictures of, angles I could tell stories from, etc., but in the end I didn't take a whole lot of photos and wasn't super satisfied with the ones I took. I am just using my iPhone camera (I don't even have another camera), and not doing much in terms of editing, so maybe I will need to spend more time on that.

One of the issues yesterday is that it was dark and dismal and rained all day. There was no sun and little light, so my photos turned out blurry and underexposed and pixelated. I guess I'll go with it - tomorrow is another day and it is WEEK in the life :) So there will be plenty of opportunities to improve.

The day started cold and wet. It was raining pretty hard when we woke up (5:15 alarm with two presses of the Snooze button). Not too unusual for the time of year, but it usually stops by the time we leave around 6:15. Not this morning.

Nico continued his conversation from last night about the story he is going to write ("episodes") about Pearls (Time Pearl, Fire Pearl, "Mommy, should there be a Power Pearl?" Me: of course!). He concentrates on what he's saying as he talks and doesn't get ready quickly.

Andrés got the car packed up with the kids' bags and homework and projects and posters (done over the weekend), and then pulled out and waited by the curb for everyone to be ready. He has to punch in by 7:15, so he is always trying to get everyone moving quickly in the morning.

I sat on a chair in the dining room waiting for the boys to emerge from the upstairs. Finally one of them came down.

Agus has gotten so grown up and tall this year. He is almost as tall as me. I hope (and assume) he will continue growing.

His uniform is too small. We bought new ones but the uniform lady didn't have his correct size, so we had to go with it. At this point in the school year it probably isn't worth getting new sweaters - besides, I doubt the lady would have them in her stock since she was "out" months ago. So, in this case, hopefully his growth spurt will take place after June is over.

This one came down a few minutes later, being nagged repeatedly to "HURRY UP!" He put his shoes on in a blur and was out the door.

We dropped the kids off at their grandparents' (only a block away), in the rain. No picture for that since everyone was in and out quickly, trying not to get wet.

The temperature was 50 degrees F and stayed that way for the rest of the day. I put the heat on in the car but Andrés was not amused.

Got to work at 7:05 and Andrés beeped us in.

The punching in and out has been happening for a few months now. He is not a fan, but there is little choice. The machine records a picture of him as well as his fingerprint. High tech. You'd think we worked at a top security institution.

My first stop is COFFEE. Love this machine that dispenses hot, filtered water. Sometimes (like today) it is cold and I need to heat it up in the microwave to get it hotter. Then I add instant coffee. I don't mind instant, if the brand is good, because I can make it as hot or cold as I like.

Breakfast at my desk. There is no way I'd have time to eat at home before we come. Plus, I have to wait an hour after I take my thyroid meds before eating, so it is just much easier to do it here. Usually it's quiet enough, although once in awhile teachers or students catch me with my mouth full.  Oh well.

While bringing my coffee into the teacher's lounge in order to heat it up, it splashed out. It reminded me that Jennie always complains about this - there was only a half inch of coffee in there! I wet down the carpet and tried scrubbing and drying it. It made a mark anyways. And, as Andrés pointed out very quickly, it is not the first time I stain the carpet with coffee. Although it was probably the smallest stain I've made to date, he was not amused.

Working at my desk, putting in my UTA students' final grades. I received some very kind emails from them. I think they enjoyed the course (they were all repeating it since they had failed the first time around - with a different professor - which didn't help motivation much. But they turned out to be a really nice and friendly group).

Another coffee warm up (and another cup). It's still 50 degrees out (and in).

My jacket is still on. Some days it stays on all day, although I've been bringing a blanket to put on my lap while I'm at my desk. It might look silly but I don't care. I prefer to be warm than to look good.

10:47 am and I was able to take my jacket off. It's still raining. Very unusual for Quito to rain so steadily for such a long period of time.

Real life is that I've been quite uninspired lately. I have ideas for projects but I procrastinate or don't bother with seeing them through. Part of it is that there is little extrinsic motivation anymore at work, and so I suppose that translates over into this feeling of restlessness and dissatisfaction. Another reason probably has to do with the fact that the more vocal and "seen" you are, the more you have a target on your back. I've enjoyed the last few months without having teachers talking about me, sending email campaigns behind my back, without having authorities question my "right" to work because I am a foreigner, giving ideas to have them be shot down - then having another co-worker suggest the same thing a few months later only to have it accepted among applause and pats on the back, etc. I hate the fact that I have to sit like a piece of furniture (what I criticize many workers of doing), without being the one to make a change, but sometimes you need a break from the drama. I'm taking my break. Andrés would say that I am being too negative and I probably am. But it's just this feeling I've had for the last year or so (probably more) and it's been really hard to shake. I feel like I've lost my "mojo".

I did get inspired to clean out a drawer in my desk and file cabinet to make room for things. This happened because it overflowed and make a huge mess.

All of these books need to go back down the the Teacher Resource Center and be filed properly away. I know this is something I will procrastinate doing and wonder how long they will be here stacked up, waiting for someone to do something with them.

One of our teachers was having her cycle presentations. As usual, I was invited. I always try to make it to a few. It's fun to see what the students come up with. They get really nervous when a gringa comes to listen to their presentations.

Halfway through my day Amy sent out some texts and videos of her with Davis and Charlie. So fun to see Charlie crawling and saying "uh-oh" with Davis in the background reading with Grandma Chris. Made me realize I need to make some phone calls tonight when I get home.

3:45 - time for Andrés to punch out, pick up the kids at their grandparents' and go home. The good news - they had finished their homework by the time we got there.

First thing's first - at home, time to do the breakfast and lunch dishes.

Got a visit from this guy. He comes home and immediately changes into sweats or "comfy" clothes. Lately, I've been wearing my work clothes until bed. Mostly because I am too lazy to put away two sets of clothes at the end of the night, and 4:30 pm seems a little early to put pajamas on. And since I haven't been exercising...

Washing my shoes. My shoes and jacket get so dirty in Quito. It's incredible.

After work and homework and making beds and getting bags and uniforms ready for tomorrow, this is a common sight. Nico on his laptop (he bought it with his Christmas money) and Agus on his phone (he bought it with birthday/Christmas money). Both playing Minecraft. They'll have 1-2 hours of screen time before Daddy will lose his patience and tell them to get off and "play with real toys". He is not amused by Minecraft.

After cleaning up a bit, with the kids on their devices, and I decided to scrapbook for a bit. Excited to get our Galapagos story told.

I made phone calls to Grandma Bauer (nice to hear from her - she washed her car HERSELF today), Grandma Chris (told her all about Galapagos and heard about her challenges keeping her candy drawer full), and Grandpa Dan (no answer - he was leaving tonight with Maureen for their Iceland/Finland/Russia trip so I think I missed him before he boarded the plane).

Dinner started without me while I was making my phone calls. Andrés made it and cleaned up and then I stayed downstairs for a bit more prepping tomorrow's breakfast while the boys took their showers. Real life is that I'm thinking about (always thinking about) needing to get healthier, eat better, exercise more (or even at all), etc., but never really doing much to go in that direction.

While I was upstairs after dinner doing some last minute Project Life and clean up, Agus and Nico came up after showers to see what I was up to. Nico got "inspired" and sat down to draw. I had CNN on and he watched for a bit, particularly interested in the news about the volcanic explosion in Hawaii.

Agus got excited to take one of the Photo Life albums from other years down to the orange chair to look at while he listened to music. It was the 2014 album, which is the year Agus went to Galapagos. Nico made him show him the Galapagos pictures before he went downstairs. He was surprised at the number of sea lions we had seen that time. (There are a lot of sea lions on San Cristóbal, not so many on Santa Cruz or Isabella - that we saw of course.)

Nico eventually went downstairs to wait for me so that we could read. We are currently reading Harry Potter #5 before bed. We usually get through about 8-12 pages a night. 

I found him in bed under the covers snuggled up with Daddy. He was telling Andrés about all of his past nightmares. I let them talk for awhile before interrupting them.

Meanwhile, Agus was on the orange chair. This is a typical scene (minus the album). He listens to music while me and his brother read (he is no longer interested in reading before bed with us). While he listens he bops his head and taps his fingers in tune to the music.

Later, after night prayers, Agus told me that he loved me (and Daddy) so much, and not because we are his parents, but because we protect him, feed him, take care of him, etc. and that we are "really good people". It came out of nowhere but was the best thing of the day. Such a sweet, awesome kid.

It never warmed up. Not that I would it expect to be warmer at 9 p.m.

I ended the day watching a couple episodes of Brooklyn 9-9 with Andres in bed (on Netflix on our iPad). Our Netflix (Ecuador) account got updated with some new shows and movies we are interested in, so I expect for the next few months we will be using it more.

I hope to get each day up on my blog in order to make the album come together easier in the future. I will be documenting this whole week, and then work on the album. I've never actually completed a Week in the Life album, although I've played along many years. Hopefully by getting things documented each night I will set myself up for success.

The posts may be a bit long this week, because of that. I'm also filling out the Story sheets each day, where I can record hour by hour and also record some of the shorter stories and surprises of the day.

Here's to a great week!

Hello, December

It's crazy how fast time goes...like sand through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives. (LOL, I had to make the reference, even if it dates me!)

Lots of craziness going on around here, which doesn't help the frenzied feeling usually associated with this time of the year. Trying to remember to slow down, and doing an OK job of it so far. In fact, because we will be in Florida for the holidays, I suspect that things might actually be smoother - no big cookie plates, no big meals to plan, no need to clean the house for upcoming family gatherings (although I will miss all those things).

Some of this, I think, is contributing to a feeling of disconnect with the holiday, however. I feel like it isn't really affecting me, like I can't really get excited over it. I don't like that feeling much, because this is my absolute favorite season. I suppose once we are in Disney World I'll be singing a different tune, when surrounded by all the lovely holiday-ness and the promise of lots of wonderful SHOPPING!

Speaking of shopping, we basically have our holiday shopping already taken care of (I guess this would be another reason why I don't feel all that stressed and worked up). We are doing it the 21st-century way, a la Amazon. There's something interesting about shopping online (finding things easily, paying electronically, then later getting the product and being surprised all over again), but there's something largely unsatisfying for this Generation X-er as well. I don't really like not being able to hold, see, touch, manipulate the product before I buy it, and stress and worry (A LOT) about getting the right thing, making sure it is what I think it is, etc. I know people in the States and other parts of the world don't worry - you can always return it, right? - but when you just get one shot (and a one-week window for delivery) to get it right (no Amazon returning from Ecuador, that's for sure), the stakes sometimes seem really high.

Nico, age 11, at Quicentro Shopping

We celebrated this guy yesterday, for his "santo" (San Nicolás). We went to T.G.I. Fridays with Bati and Gaby, then went for ice cream (although now Nico says he "doesn't like ice cream and never has" - hmmmmm). The kids, of course, didn't have school since there was vacation for the Foundation of Quito, but we had to go back home to work on projects, which are due soon, so not much play time for us! The good news is, we finished the projects. Yay for us!

I tried to get a picture of all the food, but my dish came late and everyone had already dug in!

In addition to all this, there was a huge landslide yesterday in the south of Quito which is blocking the city's water supply. It isn't affecting our house, but is affecting more than a half million inhabitants, and is affecting our university. After much debate - and conflicting information online- CEC (not the university, however) decided to stay open. The building's cistern is expected to hold up over the next few days. Fingers crossed!

Finally, I'm wrapped up in my December Daily project this month, and loving the whole process. Sometimes I look at a page and just think - meh - but once it's all done and put together I'm always sooooo glad to have done it. I will admit, however, that with the kids being older and not so into all the traditional "Christmas-y" things we usually do, I'm having a hard time "finding" my story for the day. Most of them have nothing to do with the season, which in fact is OK. Some day I will look back and remember that this perhaps was the year when the kids outgrew some of our previous traditions, but more than likely it could also be the year that starts new ones!

Mad project skillz

Maybe later this week I will get a chance to post some photos of my progress :)

Here's to a wonderful season!

All the love

All the love for these two guys. They make me laugh. They make me smile. They make my heart full.

One thing I love is bringing them little treats for after school. Today it was a box of fancy cookies from Hansel & Gretel, which they scarfed down almost immediately. Last week it was a package of Nerds (for Nico - he's the candy/sugar-lover) and a Hershey's Cookies-n-Cream candy bar (for Agus - he's the chocolate lover).

Right now they are into lots of Kindle play and Minecraft. After homework's done, lunches are packed, uniforms laid out, and homework signed and put away, we often get the question, "Can we play on our Kindle?" Usually the answer is yes, and depending on the time, they may get up to an hour before it's time to eat supper. They usually sit together, playing together and giving each other advice.

This weekend at the beach they brought their Nintendo 2DS (because there would be no Internet access) and on the way home Nico said, "I forgot how fun my Nintendo is!"

If they aren't on their Kindles, they are on their iPods/iPhones, texting Bati and listening to music (especially Agus - he'll sit for hours just listening to all his favorite songs. Apple Music was definitely a good buy for him!). At the beach they both would wake up early (around 7 a.m.), and go put on their respective headphones and just listen to music until the rest of the house was awake.

That's what their obsessions are at this time. And in between all of this, they sometimes read, write stories (Agus) or "theories" (Nico), or play "soccer" in the little hallway outside of the bedrooms.

Like I said, all the love.

Today...

• Today I am getting excited to go to the beach for the first time in 11 months. Eleven months is too long! I am looking forward to the heat, the food (shrimp in coconut sauce and popcorn shrimp with fresh rice and plantains!), the pool, sitting outside with an ice cold beer, playing board games with the boys on the patio, sleeping with no covers at all!
• Today I am happy that I took the time to go for a walk while at work (I even brought my tennis shoes, so I was able to walk further and faster). It was a mere 3 km, but it feels good to have that "out of the way", since the rest of the day will be driving to the beach. 
• Today the secretaries are at an event in Sto Domingo, which means it has been abnormally (and almost eerily) quiet around here - no students coming to our office, no beeping from the turn-style turn taking thing, no loud music coming from their desks (the station they listen to plays the same mix over and over, I could go through the songs right now - mostly 70s and 80s - one of which is Mr. Roboto). 
• Today it was sunny and warm (although a little breezy) while on my walk but is now getting dark and looking like it might storm and/or rain.
• Today Agustín went to school nervous about his Sociales exam. I helped him study last night for the exam, and the topics were all over the place: biodiversity in Ecuador, World War I, the history of democracy, economics, how to set up a small business, deficits and surpluses and balance sheets. In all honesty he knew most of the stuff in a general sense, but if they ask too many details he will bomb that test (it was hard and I had to look some stuff up - he even had lists of the different battles fought on each of the fronts of WWI). We shall see.
• Today the boys had a school event going on so they didn't need to wear uniforms. That's always fun.
• Today I am anticipating my final Day in the Life of 2017. It will be fun to be at the beach (although boring - I expect to have lots of pool/ocean/food pictures.

It's the big things...

Some things that have me very worried and upset at the moment:

• not knowing where my "Solidarity" tax is going
• not being able to find out where the money donated and (forcefully) collected for the earthquake is going (Agustín had a homework assignment yesterday to find out where the funds are going and it was HARD to find out. I found some information on a Chinese(?) news blog, and then an article that came out last weekend stating that some of that money ($120 million) went to pay off State debts that had nothing to do with the earthquake. I don't like knowing that most of the money was probably stolen/pilfered...).
• being told that I am "corresponsible" for the earthquake. I don't understand how a common citizen of this world can possibly be considered responsible for a devastating 7.8 earthquake.
• knowing that in a few weeks I need to go to Guayaquil to teach a training course. The topic is Collaborative and Cooperative Learning and the Flipped Classroom. Mostly I'm not looking forward to being away from my family and to the plane trip. I think I will like the heat though.
• having to make phone calls. I hate it. It gives me anxiety. I don't know why or when this started, but it's real, people. And I don't really mean phone calls to my friends/family (although I DO put those off, but they don't give me real anxiety), I mean to strangers/companies. 
• the fact that Ecuador is letting Julian Assange stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, as long as he doesn't "reveal" anything about the country. Seems like they knew what they were doing all along, and that the plea bargain they struck with him was simply because the country is trying to cover something up.

I'm sure there is more but this is enough for today. Just some things I need to get off my chest before I can go on...

I'll be better in the future about adding pictures... I promise!

It's the little things...

Small things that are making me happy right now:

• getting a chance to open Facebook or Pinterest and scroll with no purpose for a few minutes
• my first sip of coffee in the morning
• the color of my new coffee mug:

• the selection of colors of my new felt tip markers:

• seeing the kids stumble groggily out of their bedroom in the morning
• doing the crossword puzzle of El Diario "expreso"
• my kindle (although that's more of a big thing - man do I LOVE my kindle!)
• daydreaming about working on Project Life and opening all my new goodies
• jelly beans
• a teacher colleague you haven't seen in a while who is SO happy to see you she gives you a huge hug and practically cries!

Back to School 2014-2015!!!

And in the blink of an eye they are starting sixth grade (séptimo) and third (cuarto).

We got back from our AWESOME six-week vacay in MN and took one day off to help with the jet lag and colds Nico and I picked up right before our travel date. Then, it was back to school today!

I won't lie. It wasn't easy. I always remembered going back to school as a fun, carefree day. You would see new friends, open up and use spanking new supplies, and just hang out all day and not do much. But the nerves were going strong this morning and Agustin threw up right before going to class. He claims his shirt was too tight, but I'm sure it was nerves.

He has always been my sensitive one. Only yesterday he spent the better part of the morning crying his eyes out because we had left MN and the family. And the COUSINS!!!! And Reggie.  AND SCHMIDTY!!!! That was hard, and so yesterday I stayed home from work (poor Andres had to go in and work like a dog to catch up on everything that happened while we were out) and decided we would make a fun day of it, so we wouldn't be so heartbroken about being so far away from our amazing summer memories. We played Pay Day (found that one a few months ago stored away in Andres's childhood home. Man the kids love it! And it sure brings back some great memories.) and then Ecuador-opoly (this is one my family had made specially for us and some of the cards just make us smile: collect $100 for Agustin's first word, or pay $200 because Andres spends too much time in the bathroom! LOL!!! - Anyone remember this game?). Playing games all day helped calm him down.

But today both Andres and I had to work so we couldn't be there to see them off to school, and weren't there when they got home, and therefore I didn't get a first day of school pic.  But I got a favorable report (mostly).

Agus: four new friends, two who didn't come back, couldn't remember his teacher's name (until Nico told him - TYPICAL AGUS!!!!), liked his teacher but then got all upset because she took his cool State Fair pencils that change color with the heat of your hands and then yelled at him saying they were used but didn't give them back, upset because he was missing a notebook (which, for the record, wasn't on the supply list we received), needs his textbooks IMMEDIATELY or he will be expelled (the other parents told us that they aren't in stock at the moment but we will try tomorrow), got a little teary-eyed when he recounted all the rules and regulations the teacher had them write out in their notebooks (I think the teachers also act like a bunch of B's on the first days to scare the kids into being good - which is why quite a few people never even bother with the first few days of class and probably also why so many kids don't look forward to the first day like they do in the U.S. - but I will admit that - at least as a teacher in this culture - it is pretty necessary or you will be spending the rest of the school year hearing "No one ever said, I didn't know, It's not fair, " etc from every single kid),  but in all had a good day and sat next to Martín Teran.

Nico: two new friends, a few who didn't come back (Natalie was one - Agus teased him saying she will always be in his heart no matter where she is), a couple new ones, everyone was wearing the uniform he had on (so he was happy we chose the right one as we didn't know which one he was supposed to wear this week) but he didn't bother to ask what he is supposed to wear tomorrow TYPICAL NICO!!!! lol, wore his new Neymar cleats and was bothered by an older kid who told him he can't wear cleats to school and another kid who said Messi was better than Neymar (we told him to tell those kids not to be haters), was happy he didn't get homework, but oh yeah he has to study for the diagnostic tests (which, by definition are not to be studied for, but try telling that to teachers here), when asked what he was supposed to study said "A bunch of words" and when asked which words said "Any words you want!!!!" in an incredulous voice like I was an idiot for asking (TYPICAL Nico LOL!), but in general had a totally awesome day.

So there we have it! First day of the 2014-2015 school year over and done. May it be a good year!

Review of My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead

I read Middlemarch by George Eliot for the first time about ten years ago, as a graduate student in a Liberal Arts program. That’s a bit surprising, seeing as I was an English major as an undergraduate with a specialization in British female authors of the 18^th and 19^th century. Perhaps because of the length, I’d never really considered reading it on my own. 

I chose this book, firstly, because of its title (I really enjoyed Middlemarch when I finally got around to reading it), and secondly, because of the cover. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover but honestly, I do and you can. I read this as an ebook, so the cover was the only thing visually attractive about the book, and I admit, I was drawn to it. I love a well-designed cover. It can tell you a lot about the book – whether it’s going to be funny, sarcastic, romantic, quirky. The cover of My Life in Middlemarch is subdued and quiet and proper and beautiful – much like the book itself. But don’t take that as a bad thing!

In this book, the author, Rebecca Mead, recounts her love of Middlemarch throughout her life, talking about the book and its author, others who have reviewed it, and even throwing in a little literary criticism for the record. She makes comparisons between herself and the characters in the book, herself and George Eliot, her life and the life of Dorothea. She doesn’t just limit herself to Middlemarch, however, and this – in my opinion – is what makes this book great, but it could possibly be off-putting to other readers. She refers to other books written by Eliot, other reviewers of Eliot’s work (such as Virginia Woolf), and even makes various “pilgrimages” to Eliot’s (neé Mary Ann Evans) house in Coventry. Here, with the references to all the English towns and places, I think it would have been nice for the author/publisher to have included a small map, and possibly even a small timeline of Eliot’s life/works. My Life in Middlemarch is a rich source of English literature in and of itself, however.

I enjoyed this book. I love to read about books and read about reading books, and there was just the right amount of literary criticism and “book talk” in it that reminded me of my happy college days as an English major reading and analyzing books from every angle. Mead does a great job of that. What perhaps was missing a bit was the memoir aspect. At times I felt like I didn’t really know the author at all, despite her pains to show me more. At other times, the connection between her life and Middlemarch felt a bit contrived, perhaps, although neither of these things affected my enjoyment of the book.

Do you need to have read Middlemarch to enjoy this book? No, I don’t think so, although I wish I had gone back and read Middlemarch before I decided to read this book. I think I would have “loved” this book had I done so, more than just “really enjoyed” it. And although I don’t think it is completely necessary to have read Middlemarch to like the writer’s style, I’m not really sure why you would read My Life in Middlemarch if you hadn’t read the original in the first place!

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Edelweiss through Blogging for Books, but I was not compensated and all of the opinions stated are my own.

Welcome 20-14!

This year I resolve to try to start saying "Twenty-fourteen" like the cool kids, instead of "Two-thousand-fourteen". It's been a hard habit to break!

Welcome 2014!

I have many, many more resolutions, though, most of which will probably be too much for me to sustain over the course of the year, but as I've noted in the past, for me it's sometimes more the making of the challenge than the challenge itself that fulfills me :)  My resolutions from last year were sadly neglected. That said, I am putting these new ones in writing and hope to check in frequently with myself to make sure they are becoming reality.







Monthly Challenge

I could also add doing more fun stuff like this!
But this shouldn't be a resolution,
it should just be a way of like! :)

I am going to go with what I resolved last year: a monthly challenge, each of which is something I have on a non-priority bucket list somewhere in the back of my mind. Most of them are fun, and will hopefully provide me with a way to relax and de-stress and just enjoy this life I've been given.

Copied and pasted from last year:

January: Write 4 poems, read more poetry and get inspired by it
February: listen to one hour of music (radio, possibly new music or a new station), every day. Listen to more MPR (I am paying for a sustained membership - why am I not taking advantage!?)
March: learn more about classical music, composers, go to Casa de la Música and enjoy my newfound knowledge, learn to recognize instruments by sight and sound
April: learn the names of flowers and plants, and be able to recognize many by sight. I'll probably focus on a region, like the paramo
May: Make 2 ethnic dishes a week. Countries I will be researching: Malaysia, South Africa, Singapore, Afghanistan, Nepal, Liberia, Malaysia, North Africa (Morocco perhaps?), Syria, Czech Republic, Tahiti, Burma, Greece, Romania
June: create a new craft from somewhere online, like Martha Stewart's crafts web site
July: Buy and make something with a Whimseybox (or 2). I did do this (the buying part) but not the making. So this year my challenge for this month will be to use some of those supplies to do something fun. Some are messy (Rit dyes - yuck!) but I guess that's why we call it a challenge!
August: Run a 5K (July and August might switch depending on the dates of the 5K I join)
September: (new) Try a new craft (ha! Andrés will love this one!). I'm thinking like painting on canvas or knitting or something I really don't know how to do.
October: (new) Spend the month creating with my sewing machine. This should probably be a yearly challenge, but this month I will focus more on being systematic about it and learning new stitches and becoming more talented at it :)
November: make a Joseph Cornell box, immerse myself in the images of his boxes
December: complete a crochet blanket (afghan) for the family. I should be able to pull this off since I am participating in a CAL this year. 


Reading Challenge

Last year I resolved to read 60+ books. Well, that didn't happen. I got to 29, which is quite likely an all-time low for me :)  But 60 was really just too much in the grand scheme of things. This year I am not going to worry about how many I read (there are SO many I want/need to that it is an endless battle!), but instead I want my reading to mean something, to teach me, and to be fun.

1. I resolve to read one book in Spanish each month. I really want to improve my Spanish, pay more attention to the detail of the language. I've been ignoring it for years and that's shameful! I used to be really in tune with the language, and I want to get back that love for it that I used to have. Especially now that I have two kids who speak it :)

We'll continue with the family bonding
(this is my favorite resolution, probably!)

2. I want to read one chapter book with the boys over the course of each month. We brought home tons of chapter books this trip and I am excited to get started on them. Currently we are reading "I Funny", and while it isn't really that good in my opinion, they really love it. I don't think they get even half of the jokes in the plot, but the jokes that they do understand send them into a fit of giggles. I think they are both enthralled with the story of this boy in the wheelchair. Which is good, as they need to get more exposure to different types of people.





Work Challenge

At work I've decided that I will read a new article on my expertise each week, take notes and incorporate the ideas into the daily grind, so to speak. So far this week I've read about multiple modalities. This should be a good challenge, since we will be attending TESOL in Portland, Oregon in March and I need to keep up the inspiration. It's been years since I was involved in TESOL, and I'm excited to start connecting with teachers and teacher trainers on a different level again. Plus, this year our new director at CEC wants us to create more academic agreements with universities from around the world, so we have his "permission" to use EPN (our university) as a starting point for more networking. It could bring new and exciting things! We need that around CEC, in my opinion.

Personal Challenge


1. I still want to open an Etsy shop. I still want to create more crochet. I am going to crochet more this year, get more serious about finishing projects, and then see where that takes me. Opening an Etsy shop will not be a goal, per se, but if I crochet a lot this year I will need to do something with all of my creations :)

2. Kristin is getting married this year, and I will be in the wedding, so I need to lose 50+ pounds. Yes, I am back to square one. Last time I lost the weight I was four years younger, but I did it in 3-4 months. I still belong to Weight Watchers so I plan to track, and so far this week I've remembered to do my exercise routine twice. Which is two times more than I have been! :)  Go me!

3. And finally, I want to really immerse myself in family. This isn't so much a resolution as a reminder. I feel like I am pretty good at this, but lately I have felt myself slipping, and I don't want that to happen. More phone calls, more texts, more nice words, more appreciation, more family game nights, more playing what they want to play, more understanding, more encouragement. For my whole family - immediate and extended.

Miss these guys so much!

So, there's a lot in store for Twenty-fourteen. I am excited to start fresh.

I miss my blog!

Hello blog,

I miss you. I will try to stop ignoring you.

I look back at my posts and love seeing all those pictures that are stuck on my computer. I love reading the stories - even though some of them get put into my Project Life album, many don't, like the last DisneyWorld post, and I miss keeping track of all the big and little events in my life. Project Life is great, but I haven't been putting in the longer stories, and I feel like I need to.

So I vow to be better. I vow to write at least a couple times a week. I don't want to fall into the trap of feeling like I have to post every day, or backpost, but I definitely would like to have a few posts per week. They can be long, short, whatever. But I have to make them happen.

Good. This feels so much better.

Now let's see if I can keep my word!

Trying new things

We did a lot of walking in Disney World, and I haven't gotten any exercise since. I really need to get out there and start some sort of routine! My legs have been cramping up with so much sitting time at the computer.

We only got a double stroller on two days, and I believe they were both Epcot days. Epcot is one of those parks that is a LOT of walking, and attractions are not so close to each other. I was glad we did it, even though it costs like $30, because we were logging about 10-13 miles a day, and that's a lot for little legs that are not at all used to anything even close to those distances.

We went with Grandma Chris to Animal Kingdom. It isn't really my favorite park as it doesn't have a lot of attractions (or so I always thought), but I absolutely love the way it's decorated. The kids love it though - it's like a big, interactive zoo with rides. The really got into collecting stamps on Rafiki's Watch. At each station they'd learn a little about animals or fossils or nature: just the thing little boys like!

 

At one station they had to look for dung and recognize the animal it belonged to (the dung was fake of course, but looked real enough!). They thought that was pretty cool.

 

 

 

The decorations are like Asia and Africa, and the building for example will purposefully look run down, or they'll have a tree full of prayer flags, or a (fake, I assume) electricity transmitter with thousands of electric cables coming out of it and going to all the buildings. Reminds me of the cable situation here in Quito!

 

In each of the parks this time we tried to do at least one new thing. It's amazing but for as many times as we've gone now, we still haven't succeeded in getting to everything that's offered. This time we went to "It's tough to be a bug", a 3-D movie (actually 4-D) that was a little frightneing but not that great, in my opinion. The kids worked up the nerves and they managed. The only scary part is being blasted with air and loud noises, but maybe those things are scarier than monsters and ghosts.

The other thing we did was go see "Finding Nemo: The Musical". I'd heard it was great, and all the promotional material talks about it, but I didn't really think it would be that amazing. But the weather was still cold, our legs was tired, and the show proided 45 minutes or so of sitting indoors, so we went.

Can I just say WOW? A.ma.zing!!!! Probably one of my favorite Disney things ever. It was like a Broadway musical with huge puppets that people danced around the stage, with screens in the background and music and lights and actors coming out through the stage, and bubbles and... Well, wow. Totally worth it. Serious love for that show. The kids loved it too, I think, and I was happy because one of the things on our summer bucket list is to always make it to a play and we never seem to get around to it.

 

 

At Epocot the next day it continued to be cold, but it wasn't as windy and was a little warmer in the sun. We had beautiful skies the whole day.  Here we tried a few new things too. First up was Captain EO, a 3-D movie. Not sure what to expect, I was quite shocked to find out that it was an older movie they'd made with Michael Jackson, and they'd just vamped up the effects a bit. 

 

It was a little sad for Disney. Not worth it at all, almost laughable for how dated and 80s it was, with a storyline that was a bad copy of a Thriller video mixed with Star Wars. 

 

Then we tried the O! Canada movie, and that was pretty cool. You step into a large room, standing only, and the screens fill up all around you. It felt like we were traveling over mountains and cities and prairies and I learned a lot about Canada, too. And an added plus was it was hosted by Martin Short, whichmade it pretty funny at times.

 

 

It's always fun to try a few new things. And can you believe it? We still have things we didn't get around to!